Federal Jury Awards $1.8 Billion to Home Sellers in Historic Lawsuit Against National Association of Realtors and Brokerages

Kansas City, Missouri – A federal jury in Kansas City has ruled in favor of a class-action lawsuit, finding that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and certain residential real estate brokerages engaged in a conspiracy to maintain artificially high commissions. The jury determined that the defendants colluded to enforce the “Mandatory Offer of Compensation Rule,” also known as cooperative compensation. This rule compelled sellers who wanted to list their properties on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to offer compensation to the buyer’s agent. As a result, sellers were forced to pay inflated commissions, typically … Read more